A reported plane crash in the southern Philippines on Tuesday was a false alarm, the country's aviation regulator said, after the aircraft at the centre of the scare was found to have landed safely.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said the aircraft, registration N882TP, was accounted for and had landed safely at Butuan Airport in Agusan del Norte.

Hours earlier, a disaster agency official in the city of Digos, in Davao del Sur province, had told reporters that a private plane carrying six foreign nationals had crashed and that rescue operations were under way.

How the false alarm unfolded

Reports on Tuesday morning said a plane had come down in the mountains of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, with the first reports pointing to Barangay Sinoron at around 8 a.m. local time.

Jomar Calledo, an official with the Digos City disaster risk reduction and management office, said responders could not yet determine whether the passengers and crew had been killed. Search and rescue teams were sent to the area.

By Tuesday afternoon, however, the aviation regulator confirmed that no crash had taken place. In a statement quoted by local media, CAAP said: "The aircraft with registration N882TP was accounted for and confirmed to have landed safely at Butuan Airport." Calledo later confirmed that the report had been a false alarm and that the plane had landed safely.

What remains unknown

Officials have not said who operated the aircraft, what it was doing in the area, or why it was reported as having crashed. The nationalities of the six foreign nationals said to be on board have also not been disclosed.

CAAP did not give further details in its statement, and it was not immediately clear whether an investigation into the false report would follow.

Digos is the capital of Davao del Sur province on the island of Mindanao, and Sta. Cruz is one of the province's municipalities. Butuan Airport lies to the north-east, in Agusan del Norte, and is the main airport serving Butuan City and the wider Caraga region.

The scare briefly raised fears of another deadly aviation incident in Mindanao. In February 2025, a US military-contracted light plane crashed in Maguindanao del Sur, killing four people on board.

Butuan Airport, also known as Bancasi Airport, is the main airport serving Butuan City and Agusan del Norte province. It is operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and handles domestic flights to and from Manila and Cebu.